Wood Energy: The New Renewable?

Wood is one of the first known sources of heat and energy. We seem to have come back a full circle to where it all started from. The company that takes us back to this primitive fuel, albeit with modern technology is We Energies, a subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC).

We Energies, a $3B+ revenue utilities company serving the needs of 1.1 million electric and 1 million gas customers in Wisconsin announced the proposed construction of a $250 million biomass-fueled power plant at Domtar Corporation's Rothschild, Wisconsin paper mill site.

Wood, waste wood and sawdust will be used to produce 50 megawatts of electricity and will also support Domtar's sustainable papermaking operations. The project would be funded by We Energies.

The following table shows the capacity of WEC with renewable energy share at ~2%. Total energy supplied from renewable sources has to rise to 10% by 2015.

Dependable Capability in MW
	2008	2007	2006
Coal	3,247	3,247	3,334
Nuclear	-	-	1,036
Natural Gas - Combined Cycle	1,090	545	545
Natural Gas/Oil - Peaking Units	1,143	1,162	1,180
Renewables	113	84	84
Total	5,593	5,038	6,179

Source: Company filings

The current renewable capacity consists of 88M of hydropower and 145 MW of wind power capacity. The dependable capacity of its wind farm is 29MW. Dependable capability is the net power output under average operating conditions with equipment in an average state of repair as of a given month in a given year. We are a summer peaking electric utility. The values were established by test and may change slightly from year to year.

The company is also setting up a 132MW to 207 MW wind mill capacity at Glacier Hills Wind Park, Wisconsin. This is expected to be operational in 2012. The new wiid energy capacity and 50 MW plant will go towards meeting the regulatory requirement by 2015.

Disclosures: No Holdings in WEC, UFS

Comments

[jerrydd]

Instead of burning the biomass, they should be making biofuel gasoline/diesel by the FT process and use the waste heat, gas to make electricity.
This tech should be used by them or after any steam engine or anyone from a steam plant to nukes, It's a division of UTC, ther jet engine company.

PureCycle® geothermal systems have been in operation since 2006 at Chena Hot Springs Resort in Alaska, as a U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies demonstration project. Chena Hot Springs Resort is the first geothermal project in Alaska and the lowest temperature geothermal resource (165° F) in the world ever used for commercial power generation. Raser Technologies has ordered 200 PureCycle® systems that will have the capability to generate approximately 40 to 45 megawatts (MW) of renewable electrical power.

Or gasify the biomass and feed a gas turbine generator who's exhaust feed a steam turbine who's waste heat runs a Raser engine/generator getting 65-70% eff.

Either of these would get 2x's + the energy, income of burning the wood straight.

There is plenty of energy if we use what we have right instead of wasting most of it.

2009 Sep 02 04:37 PM

[jtareen]

According to a latest magazine, I happened to browse through at a local book store, 53% of total energy is lost and never used. This includes oil, gas, electricity etc etc. To me it seems that we need to focus more on efficiency and energy optimization as well.

2009 Sep 02 11:23 PM

[EMU@GSR]

It's true that mode than 50% of energy is lost in the conversion process. Coal based electricity generation is supposed to convert only 32-38% of the total energy in coal. Combined cycle technology raised this to 40-45%. Even so we loose half the energy. Further, there are energy losses in transmission and even in the use of electricity. Ditto for gas.

Any technology that can reduce this loss will make a lot of money for the company selling it as well as help the environment.


On Sep 02 11:23 PM jtareen wrote:

> According to a latest magazine, I happened to browse through at a
> local book store, 53% of total energy is lost and never used. This
> includes oil, gas, electricity etc etc. To me it seems that we need
> to focus more on efficiency and energy optimization as well.

2009 Sep 03 12:04 AM

[Valley Boy]

Development of wood energy for electrical generation and biofuels for transportation sounds like appropriate solutions for the economically depressed forested regions out West. We have surpluses of fire-prone undergrowth and thick forests which need thinning. Some forested areas are degraded with bug infestations. We are reminded about these situations every fire season.

2009 Sep 03 12:11 AM

[TripleG]

There are plenty of timber mills in the South and Southeast and throw away a lot of tree limbs, tree bark, etc. Why can't we just have a series of wood burning furnaces to burn all this bio-waste and generate power? It may not be the latest high tech but we know it works.
It would help to have 100% tax-writeoffs for the R&D and setup.

2009 Sep 03 09:58 AM

[robdoc]

Interesting article.
I would assume that the raw materials are almost free.
On a grass roots level burning wood catches on during times of increased fuel costs. It will be interesting to see if the macro will refect the micro.
Keep the home fires burning.

2009 Sep 03 11:20 AM

[oilsands]

The significance of this is that our energy and economic problems will be solved by a multitude of approaches, not a one size fits all approach. The alternatives do have sound economic bases, contrary to much of the hype. People keep forgetting that we heavily subsidize oil through the tax code Our foreign policy isn't even first and foremost what is good for America, but what keeps us tied to oil. The shocking lack of efficiency in coal burning is an eye-opener. Just one more place where the media has failed us.
Natural gas has the possibility of weaning us from oil while we develop other sources. The wholesale infrastructure is already in place and converting vehicles and power plants is not expensive or difficult. And it would create jobs. The money saved by not importing oil will pay for the changes needed for various approaches.
Glad to see mention of transmission efficiencies as crucial to the changeover to a non-oil based economy. Various technologies already exists to make numerous improvements. We have unlimited clean energy supplies in hydro, tidal, wind, geothermal, biomass, et al. The roadblocks are political resistance and general ignorance.

2009 Sep 03 12:21 PM

[Erich J Knight]

Biochar Soil Technology.....Husbandry of whole new orders of life

Biotic Carbon, the carbon transformed by life, should never be combusted, oxidized and destroyed. It deserves more respect, reverence even, and understanding to use it back to the soil where 2/3 of excess atmospheric carbon originally came from.

Biochar allows the soil food web to build much more recalcitrant organic carbon, ( living biomass & Glomalins) in addition to the carbon in the biochar.

Every 1 ton of Biomass yields 1/3 ton Charcoal for soil Sequestration (= to 1 Ton CO2e) + Bio-Gas & Bio-oil fuels = to 1MWh exported electricity, so is a totally virtuous, carbon negative energy cycle.
.
This is what I try to get across to Farmers, as to how I feel about the act of returning carbon to the soil. An act of penitence and thankfulness for the civilization we have created. Farmers are the Soil Sink Bankers, once carbon has a price, they will be laughing all the way to it.

Unlike CCS which only reduces emissions, biochar systems draw down CO2 every energy cycle, closing a circle back to support the soil food web. The "capture" collectors are up and running, the "storage" sink is in operation under our feet. Pyrolysis conversion plants are the only infrastructure we need to build out.

.Biochar viewed as soil Infrastructure; The old saw;
"Feed the Soil Not the Plants" becomes;
"Feed, Cloth and House the Soil, utilities included !".
Free Carbon Condominiums with carboxyl group fats in the pantry and hydroxyl alcohol in the mini bar.
Build it and the Wee-Beasties will come.
As one microbiologist said on the Biochar list; "Microbes like to sit down when they eat".
By setting this table we expand husbandry to whole new orders of life.

One aspect of Biochar systems are Cheap, clean biomass stoves that produce biochar and no respiratory disease. At scale, the health benefits are greater than ending Malaria.
unccd.int/publicinfo/p...

Endorsments:
Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, NASA's Dr. James Hansen
Charles Mann ("1491") in the Sept. National Geographic
Dr. James Lovelock; " Mankinds only Hope"
Tony Blair, Malcomb Turnbull, Richard Branson
Dozens of USDA-ARS Researchers


Internationally, the work of the IBI fostering the application by 13 countries for UN recognition of soil carbon as a sink with biochar as a clean development mechanism will open the door for programs across the globe.
biochar-international.....

Reports:
This new Congressional Research Service report (by analyst Kelsi Bracmort) is the best short summary I have seen so far - both technical and policy oriented.
assets.opencrs.com/rpt... .

Carbon to the Soil, the only ubiquitous and economic place to put it.

2009 Sep 03 01:27 PM

[dave_onju]

For energy saving in coal plants as well reduction in co2 , check out cgyv.ob. They seem to have the right idea .
www.chinaenergyrecover...

2009 Sep 09 11:02 AM